Austrian Scale Hoard of Late Trebizond Aspers

By Alex G. Malloy

Originally published in Alex G. Malloy, in Medieval Coins XVII, 1980. Modified for display online.

In 1204 the Fourth Crusade was deflected from its goal of recapturing Jerusalem from the Muslims and instead attacked the Byzantine Christian capitol Of Constantinople. The Byzantine imperial family, the Comneni, fled the city and set up courts in exile in several outposts of the Empire. In 1261 the Byzantines succeeded in driving out the Latin conquerors and re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. The branch of the Comneni which had fled to the Black Sea port of Trebizond did not rejoin the Byzantine Empire at this time; in fact it remained independent and outlasted the empire at Constantinople by nine years, falling victim in 1462 to the same Turkish sultan Mohamet II who had conquered Byzantium in 1453.

The coinage of the Comneni of Trebizond, not surprisingly, bears strong resemblances to Byzantine numismatics. Trebizond was a major step on the northern trade route with the Orient and was a trading partner of Genoa; its coinage played an important part in the trade of the times. For most of its history, Trebizond issued coins of silver only in one denomination, the asper. On the obverse is a portrait of the emperor with his monogram; on the reverse Saint Eugene and his monogram.

Standard types of Alexius IV and John IV

Recently an American dealer bought a coin scale from a California collector who had acquired it from an Austrian dealer. In it he found a secret drawer which contained 167 coins, 164 of which were the aspens of Trebizond. This hoard has now been purchased by Alex G. Malloy, Inc. While the coins are in general not heavily worn or corroded, the engraving and striking are often of poor quality, and in many cases the monogram of the emperor cannot be determined. Three coins appear to be of Basil, 1332-1340 (0.78gr.); one coin of Alexius III, 1349-1390 (0.76gr.); three coins of Manuel III, 1390-1417 (0.75 gr.); twenty-five coins of Alexius IV, 1417-1447; nine coins of Alexius or John; and eighty-six coins of John IV, 1447-1458. While the coins of Alexius IV are not common, those of John IV are quite rare, the only published specimens are from the Hermitage in Leningrad, and there are none in the British Museum Catalogue.

BASIL

The coins attributed to Basil have B in the obverse legend, left. The large design appears to be similar to the larger module of the Retowski types, but struck on reduced flans that are homogeneous to the hoard. The design of the heads of the emperor and St. Eugenius coincide with Retowski examples, i.e. neat pellet rendering along with the uniform linear design with little variation in width of line. The average weight is 0.805gr.

MANUEL III

Three coins assigned to Manuel: One has the letter  (a squared M) to left, another coin corresponds to the smaller compact design of Manuel's coins and is similar to Retowski II; the third coin is somewhat problematic as only part of Manuel's is present on the coin, i.e. I on edge of flan. Average weight of these are 0.763gr.

ALEXIUS III

This one coin is attributed to Retowski in partial legend and to style. The definite attribution to Alexius III is questionable. The weight of this coin is 0.76gr.

ALEXIUS IV

Of the twenty-five coins assigned to Alexius IV, the average weight begins at 0.78gr. These all fall into the general style of the late reduced aspens. In this group there is a set of four die duplicates and one pair which shares an obverse die. The obverse inscription reading to the left of the ruler is IE, E, or A/IE (E's lunate). The neater and more defined style exemplifies the standard facing heads and horse drapery of this period. Of the twenty-five coins attributed to Alexius IV, two coins were attributed by style only. The average weight is 0.77gr .

ALEXIUS IV OR JOHN IV

Nine coins are attributed to the reigns of Alexius and John. The exact reign is impossible to determine due to lack of obverse inscription. These coins reveal the late asper styles present on all standard types of Alexius and John.

JOHN IV (Standard type)

The eighty-six coins of John IV are the largest representation from the hoard. Of these eighty-six coins, fifteen coins fall into the standard late asper type. The obverse inscription to left of emperor is , , , or . These types all show the style of standard basic head and horse drapery, and are all basically attributed to Retowski. The average weight of the standard type is 0.775.

JOHN IV (Classes)

The unusual coins in the hoard that have not been hitherto classified have been placed into two categories. The first group is divided into seven classes of coins of John IV. These seventy-one coins deviate from the previously published types in Retowski and the British Museum. They are not like the standard types of the late aspens. The line definition is irregular in width and in sureness of rendering. The overall impression is of a cruder design.

Austrian Scale Hoard Classifications

CLASS I - Thirteen coins are in this class, five of which show the letter of John IV. This class is, for all purposes, the standard type, but the coins do not fall into published types in Retowski. In actuality, the standard class and class I is the same. The eight coins where John's letter is not present are attributed by style. One coin is die linked with the standard type. The rider's lower torso and leg portion is styled diagonally from right to left downward. The average weight is 0.798gr.

CLASS II - Twenty-seven coins are assigned to this class, of which ten coins have I or letter in left legend on obverse. This style is basically the same as class I
except the rider's lower torso and leg portion is styled by wavy lines vertically. The average weight is 0.776gr. z'

CLASS III - One coin with /I with the emperor's upper torso with cross hatching, as is St. Eugenius in the standard type. The weight of this coin is 0.73gr.

CLASS IV - Nineteen coins of this class with two coins with or to left of emperor. This class is identified by diagonal lines from reins of horse to end of rider's
legs. The overall appearance is a cruder style, more fluid in its rendering. The average weight is 0.768gr.

CLASS V - Three coins in this class. No legend is relating exactly to John. The upper and lower torso is represented with one line of pellets. The horse's mane is a single line instead of a line of pellets.

CLASS Va - One coin present in the hoard. Same as class V, but horse's mane is rendered as a line of pellets. The average weight for coins in Class V is 0.753gr.

CLASS VI - Eight coins fall into this class. Four coins have or I letters to the left of ruler. Five coins are die linked. The basic type shows ruler's upper torso with
line down center and line for horse's mane, the rest of design is like class II.

CLASS VIa - Four coins are in this class. Three coins show to left of ruler. The type is identical except the upper torso of ruler is styled with a line of pellets down
the center. The average weight of class VI is 0.73gr.

CLASS VII - One coin is in this class. This remarkable coin has the emperor with a helmeted head facing. The basic type is like class VI and in the upper torso on the ruler's bust are two annulets. The average weight to class VI is 0.73gr.

Two coins in the hoard are not identified to class, but are John's coins. One is attributed to either class VI or class II.

Of the remaining coins in the hoard, four cannot be assigned to a specific emperor. These are possibly barbaric or just crude strikes. Of the remainder, several distinct different styles emerged. There are two obverse dies in which the area where the imperial monogram should be is clearly visible, but there is no monogram. One of these obverses appears on seven die duplicates, one obverse die which appears on five coins, each with different reverses. The style of both these obverse dies (and their respective reverses) is distinctive from those with imperial monograms, and on most of these coins there is very little wear evident. The average weight of these duplicate coins is 0.719gr., that of the die linked coins, 0.73gr. In view of the great die repetitions, the lack of wear, the fact that these coins are lower in weight than the average, and the deviation of actual types of coins from John's standard type, as well as his class coins, it is probable that they represent coinage after that bearing the name of John IV.

There were, until now, no coins ascribed to the rather obscure successors of John IV (except for Sabatier incorrectly attributing a large asper to the reign of David). John IV was succeeded at death, 1458, by a son Alexius V and his brother David. Later the throne passed to a sister, name unknown, who married the Turkish Sultan Mohamet II. On her death in 1462, the last of Greek empires ceased to exist. The empire of Trebizond was assimilated into her husband's Ottoman Empire. These coins could have been minted in the reign of John IV after the signed coins, but this seems rather doubtful due to the various types of coins issued under John after the standard types. They could even be from the period after the empire of Trebizond ceased to exist as an independent entity. Of course this holds little value due to the Muslim concept of no human images on their coinage. They could have been struck from an unidentified mint in Trebizond, but the city Trebizond was the only major city in the empire, so this seems doubtful. They could be struck as copies of the Trebizond aspens from elsewhere. The regions around the Black Sea in the latter part of 15th century, were more or less under Ottoman or Khanate control except for the kingdom of Georgia, which had its own coinage. In all probability, these coins were in fact struck after John IV, during the reign of David and Alexius V, 1458-1461.

DAVID AND ALEXIUS V

The thirty-one coins assigned to this reign have a definite new style, but are still true to the Trebizond tradition of horseman types. The outline or basic line definition is wide while the internal line design is narrow and often in a cursive style.

CLASS I - There are fourteen coins from the hoard that belong to this class. Nine coins have a ; or  in place of ruler's monogram to the left of ruler. Head facing is more stylized. The body of the horse is a key to these types. Forepart of horse is like John IV class, but more ordered, horseman's legs are designated with a single line, back of horse shows linear tree design or diagonal lines up from a central core. St. Eugenius is replaced on the reverse with emperor on horseback type like the obverse. This fact also strengthens the belief that the -coins could have been issued under the dual reign of David and Alexius V.

CLASS Ia - Three coins belong to this sub-class. The type is identical to class I except the design on back of horse is reversed. The average weight is 0.743gr.

CLASS II - This single coin is similar to class I, but on horse's back is cross hatching. Facing heads are more oval and round in design. Weight of coin is 0.67gr.

CLASS III - These two coins of 0.75gr. average weight, show an added row of diagonal lines to horse's back, as in class I.

CLASS IV - Three coins are assigned to this class. The average weight is 0.696gr. Two coins are die linked. The back of horse has diagonal lines across back. The rest of the design is basically like class I.

CLASS V - The one coin of 0.67gr. in this class has characteristics of blank back and foreparts of horse, and central section of horizontal lines.

CLASS VI - The four coins that are placed in this class have cross hatched pattern in lower torso and leg section. The horse design varies in front and back in types a and b. Average weight is 0.735gr.

CLASS VII - This crude type with random lines and pellets is exemplified by only one style. The weight is 0.60gr.

CLASS VIII - This, the crudest of the classes, is represented by two coins. The horse's body and rider are represented by random lines. The average weight is 0.73gr.

Dr. Alan Stahl has kindly looked at and studied the hoard. He weighed all coins. It is his observations on weight changes and his suggestions to the possible coinage
after the reign of John IV that ultimately resulted in the assigning certain types to David and Alexius V.

*Three of the Trebizond aspens were dispersed and have not been examined by this writer. Three coins with Arabic inscriptions have been kindly examined by Mr. Kenneth M. MacKenzie, who has identified them as: [1] Probably Isfendiarid of Jandar I, 1292-1300 A.D., [2] Ottoman of Suleyman I, 1520-1566 A.D., and [3] Ottoman of Mehmed IV, 1648-1687 A.D. As the latter two coins are considerably after the end of the Trebizond Empire, these three coins are probably to be considered as intrusive to the hoard.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wroth, Warwick. Western and Provincial Byzantine Coins of the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Lombards and the Empires of Thessalonica, Nicaea and Trebizond in the British Museum. (1911; Argonaut reprint: Chicago, 1966).

Trebizond

Lots from Alex G. Malloy, Medieval Coins XVII, 1980. Modified for display online.